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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 11.0443 Monday, 6 March 2000.
From: Sean Lawrence <
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Date: Thursday, 02 Mar 2000 11:06:46 -0800
Subject: 11.0414 Bloom's Edgar and Lear
Comment: Re: SHK 11.0414 Bloom's Edgar and Lear
Joanne Gates suggests that:
> So "He childed as I fathered" is rich with overall thematic import, and
> I suppose might be used out of context to assert the "love" and
> "tragedy" parallels in the play. Yet, since Edgar at this point neither
> knows the effort Cordelia is making nor recognizes the sacrifices his
> own father is making (nor foresees the guiding of his father that he
> will undertake), the way the line reads best is to mate himself and Lear
> as sufferers.
Could both Edgar's unwillingness to show himself to his father later in
the play, and his misunderstanding of the situation as expressed in this
line follow from the fact that characters in this play generally pity
only those whom they empathize with? There are a number of characters
who project their own concerns on others, most notably Lear assuming
that Edgar must have been brought to his naked wretchedness by
ungrateful daughters.
Cheers,
Se